temani

Here are some observations of our first P&O cruise on Encounter to North Qld from Brisbane in November 2022. Bear in mind that Covid protocols were still in place at that time. We arrived early and dropped off our cases in Bag Drop, then looked around for somewhere to sit as no-one appeared to be entering into the Terminal. No seats left, so sat on a concrete surround of a flower bed. Time went on and more and more people arrived and when no more seating was available they stood queuing.

A couple of hours later it seemed, a loud voice told the crowd that until everyone had disembarked from the ship there would be no-one getting on. We had noticed a couple of ambulances outside so maybe this was the reason for the delay. When told that 'those sitting around the Bag Drop would have to move' I could feel our patience running out. Not good enough to be herded like sheep. We are seniors and one of us can't stand for a long time.

Eventually got onboard and found our balcony cabin which was lovely. As we had previously cruised Asia with Sapphire Princess we were used to the ship's layout.

We had only been given the choice of two dining times 'Early' or 'Later'. On board we found that our time was 5.45pm and that we had been rotated through Waterfront, Dragon Lady and Angelos. We could change the venues if we wished which we did. Although menus were only changed a couple of times, we found the food very good and also in The Pantry - something for everyone and plentiful.

Dress codes in the restaurants ranged from smart casual to t-shirt and shorts and baseball caps.

In The Pantry it wasn't unusual to see swimwear and bare chests (men).

We only saw one show Blanc de Blanc, risque but very funny, but we had to pay for this one. Lots of charges for onboard extras.

The real downside for us about P&O was the disorganised rush off the ship at Cairns port. We had booked a ship tour to Kuranda and after receiving a tour number were directed to wait in one of the theatres. When our number was called, we thought that we would be guided to our disembarkation deck before the rest of the ship were allowed to disembark. No such luck. We almost had to fight our way through crowds to go down to the deck we were told to go to only to find that it was the wrong deck so another fight to get to the correct deck and eventually find our transport. No such keeping distances here!

Won't say never again, but looks unlikely that we will choose P&O.

I think most of your questions have been answered earlier, but thought I would add from our own experiences on Pacific Encounter to the GBR in late November. When we booked our cruise we chose the 'Plus' (I think it was called) fare, so drinks were included. We usually drink white wine and could each have up to 15 glasses of wine under a ceiling price each day - we never even got close to that amount! But mostly we drank Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc which was very good. Ship's price was around AUD12-13 per glass. I think the name of one we preferred was Kim Crawford? If we ever wanted to buy a bottle of wine, then we had to charge that to our cabin. We did buy one bottle. Think that was around AUD43.

In our cabin, on boarding, was a list of the restaurants included in our fare. We had been rotated through all three - Waterfront, Dragon Lady, Angelos throughout the seven day cruise and we had already chosen the earlier sitting - ours was at 5.45pm each evening. You must either choose early or late sittings before boarding the ship. You can swap restaurants around as long as you give notice. We had downloaded the P&O App on advice once onboard, so no problems there. We didn't like Dragon Lady so opted out of that one. It was so dark in there, the people at the next table couldn't see what they were eating! We particularly liked Angelos, decor throughout was lovely and the food good, although only one menu change throughout the seven days. The pizza eatery was not open at all on our cruise.

Aus Traveller, thank you again. Not worrying now about the cabin!  Will definitely try Angelos.  Wishing you a great cruise next week and would welcome your comments on return home.

Thanks so much for your help Aus Traveller. We know now what we'll opt for. As you say, the 'alternative' restaurants may not be for everyone, but we'll see what happens.

We haven't even been allocated our balcony cabin yet!  Usually like to choose our own when we first book. Again, we'll see what happens as there's only a few weeks to go.

Filling in our details before cruising in late November, we are asked to pre-determine what time we want our evening meal.

We are given the option of 'early' beginning at 5pm, 'late' beginning at 7.30pm or 'I will decide when onboard'.

This is of course for the non-speciality restaurants. Apparently if we choose a specific time, we will then be shuffled around The Waterfront, Angelos and Dragon Lady during our seven night cruise. Are things really that rigid?  We had to take very early times each night on the old Aria and so missed sailaway from some nice ports.  If we leave our options until onboard, will be be able to get 'anytime dining'?  We don't want to miss any shows either and so far can't find out at what time these are on. We have therefore left this part of our filling-in blank for now.

Thanks for any advice given.

Temani

Hi Gwendy,

We are cruising from the BICT in November and have booked our car in with Andrews Airport Parking which is close to Brisbane Airport. They do shuttles to the cruise terminal as well. We always use their undercover parking and have had no problems. This will be the first time for the cruise terminal and we had to pay a bit extra because the trip is longer. They will also pick us up on return.

Their contact number is 07 3268 4222.

Departing from Halong Bay, Vietnam in the afternoon - breathtaking!

Would have been the same for arriving, but we had arrived overnight from Hong Kong, so woke up to see those fantastic limestone karsts all around us.

Thanks so much SNJ Cruisers and OzKiwiJJ.  I understand the situation now.

Tessa

Hi Everyone - looking for advice please. We are booked on Coral Princess 14 night cruise ex Brisbane to New Zealand leaving 6th February 2023. We chose Princess Plus and a B2 cabin on Caribe Deck but we couldn't choose which one.  There is just "Guarantee" in place of Cabin Number and our TA couldn't tell us why.  Would appreciate any answers.

Thank you.

Norris and Carol, what a fantastic read! I have enjoyed so much "travelling" with you on this trip.

Can't wait for your report on your next adventure so looking forward to hearing about the Sky Princess.

Your stunning pictures of London, its beautiful architecture and all those lovely, cosy pubs brought back a lot of memories. I was born and brought up in East London many long years ago and left with my family in 1981, never returning.  I can't remember going into any of those wonderful museums or cathedrals growing up - all taken for granted really. Only now I look in awe at London through your eyes. 

As for the pub grub shots, especially the ones of crispy fish and chips, mushy peas etc. I remember these so well.

One "delicacy" we miss from long ago and maybe we're looking through rose-tinted specs, is going into Cook's Pie and Mash Shops in the East End and getting a plate of a large meat pie, potato mash ( which came onto your plate via a spatula), and lastly "liquor" which covered your meal in a custardy green parsley sauce. (no alcohol involved) Oh so delicious!

Thanks again.

Tessa

Aus Traveller,  bvm49, Mic, OzKiwiJJ

Thank you so much for your very helpful replies. Bottles only for us now!

Tessa

Hi everyone

Sorry to be a bit late to this topic but I would welcome any advice.

We are cruising Sapphire Princess Singapore-Singapore next January, which is fifteen nights. We have not sailed with Princess previously, only Celebrity, where we were lucky to have had the included Classic drink package. When we looked at the Premium package price on our Princess Personaliser today it was AUD99.11 each per day!  We have decided that it's too expensive and we'll just buy our wine by the glass onboard. We don't know where to find a current list of drink prices on this ship and would appreciate a link from someone if there is one posted on CC.

We are also thinking of taking an extra two bottles of wine onboard at Singapore (having read about that idea here) and paying the corkage, although at the moment we have no idea of bottled wine prices there. We might have to stick with our two carry-on bottles from Oz.

Many thanks

Tessa

Norris, amazing pictures as usual. Thank you both for sharing this special trip to Norway with us.

So green too - not like our poor sunburned and very dry part of Australia right now.

Caught up to this review after reading your Azamara cruise review to Cuba. What gorgeous baroque-style public buildings they have. We don't often get to see those treasures of Havana. ( Really enjoy your art deco shots in Miami too each time you go there.)

Regarding Ry Cooder, I think his and Manuel Galban's version of "Secret Love" is just so beautiful and sweet.

Looking forward to reading on about Norway, Celebrity Silhouette and your final stay in London.

Tessa

Yes we travel on our Australian passports.  Princess seems to be a bit expensive for a one day visit to Cambodia and two ports in Vietnam.

Hi Everyone

Double "Ouch" !!

Princess will be charging us US$56 each for our Vietnam visa and US$55 each for our Cambodia visa if we leave it to them to supply us on board. 

Will have to have a big think if we want to visit these ports again another time. Meanwhile we may cough up if it saves us doing it all ourselves.

Thanks everyone for your helpful information.

Always good to receive advice from CC fellow cruisers.

Cheers.

We have booked a 14 night Asia cruise on Sapphire Princess next January 2020 Singapore back to Singapore.

Two ports in Malaysia, two in Vietnam, two in Thailand and one in Cambodia - all single day visits.

Only prior cruise out this way was on Celebrity in 2015 who organised the Vietnam visa on board.

It's a first time on Princess, so any advice on the visa requirements and obtainment would be very welcome thanks. 

Thank you everyone! On a cloudy, drizzly morning in Brisbane, this thread has been the best pick-me-up! So funny.

Thank you too MicCanberra (from a link I followed here), as now I know that for my upcoming first time on a P&O cruise ship I will be ok with a few singlets with custard stains down the front, stubbies and bare feet.

I can't wait!!

They don't offer drink packages on short cruises because because of problems with excessive drinking from bucks parties, football groups etc etc. I found the individual prices for alcohol quite reasonable on pacific Aria.

Understandable I guess. Thank you for that info.

Thankyou both for your replies and very helpful information.

Tessa

We are going on a 4-night mini cruise from Brisbane soon on the Aria.

This will be our first time with P&O and I can't find drink prices on our cruise info. Would appreciate knowing the current wine by the glass/bottled wine prices if anyone has details. There doesn't appear to be a package available either, perhaps because it's such a short cruise?

Thanks.

Thank you Mr Gut, John and everyone for your very helpful advice which is much appreciated.

Tessa

Train $17 to Circular quay, 2 min walk to The Rocks.

Hi Mr Gut

We are staying overnight at the Russell Hotel, Rocks, after flying down from Brisbane on Thursday morning. We are thinking of taking the train from the domestic airport but with a case each and a carry-on we're not sure if the walk is do-able for a senior couple. When we called up Google directions, it looked as if stairs were involved, even though it is only around 200metres to our hotel. Would you have any advice please?

Thanks

Tessa

Norris and Carol, your detailed reviews and stunning photos are not to be missed. Thank you.

Your Reflection review last year helped us a lot as we cruised for the first time on another S Class ship Equinox a few months later.

Loved the art-deco Miami shots in particular.

Also loved Chicago and the wonderful skyscraper architecture by the way.

Eric Clapton is my go-to guitar man.

Tessa

Sorry if this comes out in duplicate. Thought I just posted, but will do this anyway.

Received an email recently from Princess Cruises, advising more sailings for Sun Princess in 2018 in October and November. All from Freemantle, W.A.